Hey guys, and welcome to my new Final Fantasy Versus XIII fic. I'm new to this fandom, but I hope I did a good job.

'Infragilis' is Latin for 'unbreakable'.

Summary: Not even death can break them apart. As one crystal is stolen, the destiny of another is shattered, and the final battle begins.

Chapter One: Stella

Noctis wove his way through the crowd, desperate to find refuge from his seemingly endless horde of noble fangirls. Most non-royalty people would only have people of their choosing at their 21st birthday, he thought bitterly, but his father had insisted on inviting any and all young noble-women from the surrounding kingdoms.

Personally, Noctis thought his father used the words 'nice', 'girl' and 'married' far too often than could be healthy for either of them.

'Ignis, sit rep,' he mumbled into his collar. The piece in his ear crackled with static then Ignis replied,

'All clear.'

Noctis sighed, feeling the familiar beginnings of irritation towards his four-eyed friend. 'Not like I was expecting otherwise… Like I said, you'd have to be dumb to try anything tonight.'

'On the contrary. Tonight is the one night when anyone with a chance of protecting the crystal is likely either drunk, passed out or on the pull. The exception to that rule would be-'

'Us, I know.' All too well, he didn't add. 'Okay, gotcha. Glad's on standby. Call him if trouble shows up.' He disconnected without waiting for a reply.

Tugging out his collar, he straightened, glared at the startled butler nearby, resisted the urge to point out that he was not, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, speaking to himself, and walked on.

He let his feet lead him, dancing between waiters carrying trays of drinks and various reporters wielding large cameras; his toes connected with something solid and he looked up to find himself standing at the bottom of a staircase. He glanced around. Seemed quiet enough.

He started to climb.

The ceiling above him was glass and as he climbed he found his gaze drawn to it - or, rather, what lay beyond it. The light was dim, hovering on the edge of his vision. He watched as it flickered and silently, despite his earlier words, sent up a prayer that the crystal would be safe tonight.

The crystal… and Ignis.

He discovered upon reaching the top that the staircase in fact led to a mezzanine and a girl. Noctis was tempted to start backing away the moment he saw her, but she turned her head and smiled, and that train of thought was put to bed. Blue eyes watched him as he made his way over to her, heart thumping and palms clammy.

He'd spent the evening avoiding women, but as women went, she didn't seem particularly rabid. And - his face flushed at the thought - she was awfully pretty.

'Lord Noctis, right?'

He nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat before replying, 'I don't believe we've been properly introduced, Miss…?'

She merely smiled.

Turning on her heel, she moved towards the plate-glass window, hands crossed behind her back as she studied the sky, apparently contemplating something.

'Lord Noctis, you can see the light, right?' she asked softly, glancing back over her shoulder. Noctis, who had been too busy being mesmerised by the sight of the moonlight on her hair to pay much attention, cleared his throat and scuffed his shoe lightly against the carpet.

'Excuse me?'

She opened her mouth to reply, and at that moment his earpiece crackled into life.

'Noct, we got trouble. They caught me by surprise-' breaking glass-

'I've seen the light since I was a child…' a shriek of pain-

'I think there's only one but I can't- ah!' a tremendous crash-

'What about you?' the crackle of flames-

'Are you alright?'

And then it stopped.

'Lord Noctis?'

The din died into silence save for the sound of laboured breathing… and then Noctis heard a noise that almost sent him to his knees. It was distant, laden with static and white noise, but there was no mistaking the sound of a blade tearing through flesh.

'Lord Noctis!'

He snapped back into his surroundings with a jolt to find her peering anxiously up at him; he realised through the haze of panic that he was staring into space like a slack-jawed idiot, and also that he didn't much care. Still, he blinked and looked down at her.

'Are you alright?'

'I- Yes. My apologies; I was miles away.'

'No…'

She smiled brightly. As much as Noctis would have appreciated the sight under normal circumstances, he was currently trying to stop himself hyperventilating, and so admiring her (admittedly rather radiant) looks would have to wait . Priorities…

The problem was, he'd never, for as long as he could remember, heard Ignis sound so… terrified. Irritated, yes; amused, on occasion; angry, when things were really bad. But never scared.

Ignis didn't get scared.

When they were both ten, Noctis had decided, despite Ignis' warnings of certain doom (destined to be a strategist even then, Noctis thought wildly, even as his brain screamed not the time!), to climb the large oak tree on the edge of the palace gardens.

Naturally, he'd fallen out. Right on top of Ignis. And he was pretty sure he'd heard something snap.

Calmly, Ignis had risen to his feet, studied his arm with an air of mild disinterest (whilst Noctis tried to not puke his guts out because, hello, arms weren't supposed to bend that way) and wandered back to the palace and the screams of the maids without even uttering an 'Ouch.'

'Noct, I got it. I'll meet you at the temple.'

He could have cried with relief upon hearing Gladiolus' voice. Instead, he settled for passing a hand through his hair and saying, 'I'm afraid I will need to take my leave soon, Miss.'

'Stop…'

'As will I. It was a pleasure meeting you, Lord Noctis.'

'The pleasure was all mine.'

'Stop, please!'

'Maybe you could come to Tenebrae sometime. I'll show you around.'

'That sounds good,' Noctis said, even as his brain was grinding to a halt, raising an eyebrow and saying, Wait, Tenebrae? Then that means she must be…

'Goodbye, Lord Noctis,' Lady Fleuret murmured with a respectful dip of the head; he returned the gesture as he watched her turn and walk away with a small twinge of regret.

'Huh? Who are you?'

All regret was forgotten at the sound of an unfamiliar voice in his ear; he could almost hear the smirk in the man's voice, and in the pit of his stomach, a knot of cold, controlled fury swirled into life.

'That's my line.'

And with that, he ran.

He didn't even bother with the car, and he still made it just as Glad was rounding the corner. The motorbike screeched to a halt; Glad kicked down the stand and leapt off. They met each others' gazes in the moonlight.

'Ignis?'

'I don't know.'

They raced up the temple steps, threw the doors open and stumbled inside, weapons at the ready.

They needn't have bothered.

The place was in ruins. All but one of the windows had been shattered, leaving shards of stained glass littered across the floor; the pillars that had once lined the temple interior were now nothing more but mounds of rubble.

The marble floor was slick with blood.

Noctis surveyed the damage with a sense of growing dread; forcing down the desire to vomit, he let his gaze travel over the floor, the walls, up the central aisle to where the crystal's pillar stood-

'Shit.'

Noctis agreed with the sentiment whole-heartedly.

The white cloth that usually found its place draped over the crystal had been thrown to one side; the top of the pillar where the crystal rested was cracked and crumbling, a dark shape sprawled, immobile, at its base...

And where the crystal had been now stood nothing more than a lump of black rock.

Umm... yeah. Apologies for the pathetic excuse for a cliffhanger. I'll be doing that a lot =3.

Reviews are appreciated, especially constructive criticism. If you see any mistakes, for the love of Etro and everything holy, TELL ME. I cannot stand mistakes in my work, so yeah.

I hope you enjoyed. Even if you didn't, thanks for taking the time to read.

Snowy Boots
xxx